The parade starts late in these parts, maybe around 10:30 pm or so. It wasnt too much different than a parade in the states except for a few minor details. The most striking difference to me was the amount of beer being bought, sold and consumed on the street. There were bottles and cups in the hands of adults and teenagers everywhere - and, I must admit, it was a welcome addition to a foreign steet fair.
The second difference was the amount of kids playing and rough housing in the street between processions. They would run and play and push and shove, kicking anything in sight as if it were a soccer ball. They played one on one with an empty beer cup, or perhaps two on three with a bottle cap. Plus, they all had bottles of white silly spray that they sprayed on anyone close enough to spray, which typically ended up being the people within the processions themselves.
The third major difference actually took place within the parade. Some of the processions came with singers, who walk with the procession belting out their tune. I am adding a video to illustrate this example, and will hopefully give you a little insight into the types of parades they have in Brazil, in the small towns, to celebrate Carnaval.
On TV we watched the major Carnaval taking place in Rio de Janeiro - which is 1000 times more spectacular than the little small town parade we watched. Perhaps its the same difference between watching the Macys Day Parade in New York City in contrast to the Strawberry Festival Parade in Marysville. Both have their purpose, but if you want to see the big dogs play the game, you gotta go to Rio.
